Sustainable development of the most impoverished
Is a Priority, Says Indian President Kalam
India Observes58th Republic Day of India

By Bobby Ramakant Asia Correspondent

Indian President Kalam

India today (Jan. 26, 2007) celebrated the 58th Republic Day amidst tight security. This was marked by the traditional parade marching down the broad avenue called Rajpath, connecting the Rashtrapati Bhawan (President's House) and the India Gate as President of India His Excellency A P J Abdul Kalam took the salute from marching contingents.

Chief Guest for 58th Republic Day was Russian President Vladimir Putin. Also present were Vice President of India - Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, United Progressive Alliance Chairperson Sonia Gandhi and the entire military and political top officials. Countless thousands of people had also swarmed around the Rajpath, to watch the historic parade.

Ahead of the parade, the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Defence Minister A K Antony and the three Service chiefs laid wreaths at the Amar Jawan Jyoti at India Gate where an eternal flame burns in memory of those army staffers who laid their lives defending frontiers of the country.

With unfurling of the tricolour by the President and the playing of national anthem by military bands followed by a customary 21-gun salute, the parade began as Air Force helicopters showered flower petals on the gathering.

DRDO (Defense Research and Development Organization) of Government of India, ably demonstrated India's military prowess, by showcasing 'Brahmos' supersonic cruise missile, unique small-sized 'Ex Tank,' Nag anti-tank guided missile, Akash weapon system, weapon-locating radars and a host of border surveillance equipment. The Army showcased its T-72 tanks, Bofors guns, Pinaka multi-barrel rocket launching system, tactical control reporter radar, mobile de-contamination system and Army Wide Area Network on mobile node. The indigenously-built Advanced Light Helicopter 'Dhruv' was also showcased with three of the choppers flying past Rajpath.

President Kalam said on the Thursday broadcast to the nation that cruelty to children cannot be tolerated in India and stringent punishment shall be given to the accused. He stressed on accelerating the investigation of such cases. This came as a major relief to thousands of people who are perturbed over recent serial killings of children in suburbs around New Delhi. "Some recent incidents of crime against children have shocked the whole nation and left deep scars in all of us. Children are our national wealth. Cruelty to children is against the fabric of society which cannot be tolerated at any cost," he said.

President Kalam appealed to all citizens to play a proactive vigilant role in assisting the police in keeping our people, especially children and women, safe and secure. He referred to residents of a locality acting as watchful neighbours, fast action-oriented police machinery, vigilant media and speedy exemplary punishment to the perpetrators of crime by the judicial system. He also made a mention to make efforts to identify people who have such criminal tendencies in the society through modern psychological test aids. "Eradication of cruelty towards children should be the mission of every Indian since they are our future," Kalam observed in his address, the last of this presidential term.

President Kalam, shared a vision of India in 2020 and what needs to be done in 2007 and years ahead of us to achieve goals of sustainable development.

"If we perform in an integrated way with development politics as the focus, in mission mode with transparency, I visualise even before the year 2020, that a prosperous nation is possible," he observed.

He shared his vision to 'reach the unreached.' He said the corporate sector should think of reaching the unreached as an essential component of 'Corporate Social responsibility' -"In a world dominated by communication, extending communication for the priviledged to include connectivity to the unreached should be part of our technological upheaval."

President also laid stress on increasing access and quality of our education programmes. Noting that no Indian youth should be without either a world-class higher education or without world-class skill sets, the President wanted steps for evolving a global human resources cadre by the country for the task of acquisition, imparting, creation and sharing of knowledge.

"Systems must be designed in such a way that no aspiring competent students should be denied quality education," he said.

The President said the number of people living below the poverty line has come down to 22 percent and the literacy rate would soon touch 75 percent.

President Kalam clearly suggested that the progressive way forward for India is to NOT ignore the poor and impoverished majority. He said that the development programmes in urban areas cannot sustain if we continue to focus only on a small majority of people who have money and purchasing power. The real sustainable development shall commence and take deeper roots if we empower communities not yet reached by development programmes in India.

Bobby Ramakant, who serves as The Seoul Times' Asia correspondent, is a member of NATT, Network for Accountability of Tobacco Transnationals, and edits Weekly MONiTOR series, reporting violations of tobacco control policies as a senior public health and development journalist. He writes for newspapers in 11 countries and can be reached at bobbyramakant@yahoo.com)